The Louisiana Democrat. [volume] (Alexandria, La.) 1845-1918, 1887-10-19
AN INTEREST IN LIFE.
How Existence Can BE Made Attractive
in Snito of Disbursements.

How Existence Can Be Made Attractive
in Spite of Disbursements.
Half the illnesses and more than
half the unhappiness in life come from
the want of some active outside inter-
est--sometlling to take the person out
of himself; chiefly though out of her.
self; and give her things to think OF
beyond her own sensations-things to
sympathize with beyond her own vague
disappointments and shadowy desires.
The spiritual baroness of ego,ism and
of idleness makes life very desert
where no green thing flourishes, which
no dew from Heaven rcfreshes, nor
living water rejoices. Self-centered and
uninterested, life to such an one is but
poor entertainment for the senses;
and the deeper emotions and affections
have no share therein. The order of
the day, with all its necessary circum-
stances of food, and gradual wear
ing of the morning through the noon
to evening. and the sleep. which is
only the elimination of tho lcthargy
of the waking hours-is one long round
of WEAKNESS and dissatisfaction. Like
withered boughs which bear no roses,
not an hour has its moment of delight,
not an action has its hope of JOY or
fulfllment of pleasure. The dull day
creeps sluggishly from dawn to close,
and not n new thought has been
awakenednor q new sensation aroused.
Marion in the "Moated Grange" was
not more dreary than the man or
woman who has no outside interest,
and whose life is bound up in self; and
no prisoner ever hailed the free air of
Heaven with more rapturous gratitude
than would such an one if set in the
way to make that interest and enlarge
those boundaries. For we must never
forget that many things which look
like faults, and pass under the name
Of faults, are in reality misfortunes-
the result of conditions made for us
and not by us. and not to be broken
by such energy as we possess.
In this ono word indeed lies the
heart of the matter. With energy we
make an interest for ourselves, in spite
Of the poverty of our circumstances.
Without it, opportunities of rich en-
joyment pass by unutilized. and We
let slip all chances for bcttering our
fate. It is a misfortune to be born
one of the passive, the negative. un-
energetic, who divide the world with
the active and energetic. Most things
in life that are worth having at all
have to be sought and pursued, if they
are to be captured and held fast.
Neither fortune nor pleasure knocks
persistently at any mans door. but
each has to be at tho least looked for
up and down the street. and invited in
if it is desired to entertain either.
But the unenergetic take no pains to
find these radiant guests. If they do not
come unbidden they do not come at all;
and the flowers and gems borne by the
sluggish steam on its bosom are left to
drift into the great ocean of things now
impossible, because Of the want of en-
ergy to seize them as they passed. The
energetic, on the contrary, are of those
who improve their holding. No mat
ter how poor the soil-how unpropi-
tious the surroundings-they know
whence to gather rich material and
fertile seed for the better harvest
and the heavier crop. If
they are of those whose circum-
stances preclude the need of exer.
ton. they make some extraneous in
terest for which they have to work and
think, and in manner sacrifice their
comforts, and break up the deadly
monotony Of their self-indulgence-
that monotony which kills the finer
nature when INDUCED in without a
break, and which makes the very
misery of the rich.
No matter what the interest so long
as we make one for ourselves. From
art to religion, and from philanthropy
to needle-work, all is useful, II some
forms are purer and nobler than
others. Many people do very bad art
paint pictures that are caricaturcs;
sing in voices to which tin kettles are
as silver bells; write books, innocent
Of the very elements of composition
but all the same they have an interest
which has lifted them out of the dead.
" dizziness of the past. If they have
no higher vocation, and their powers
are not capable Of attaining greater
results, it is better for them to use
them on these lower levels than not at
all; and the world benefits. at least in
so far that they are thereby rendered
happier-with the consequent result OF
greater happiness radiated on to
others. If they are well endowed they
do good work in itself, and the world
is the richer by the achievement
Chicago Standard
A Medical Socrates.